High School Football 2017 Begins Tonight

Just over two weeks of workouts and a few months of independent work comes down to this week as the 2017 High School Football season officially gets underway.

Only two city squads are in action tonight for Week 1, with the remaining three in action Friday. A total of eight games will take place this evening.

There are a few changes this season with the Bronson Vikings joining the Big 8, replacing the Athens Indians. Athens is now a member of the South Central Athletic Association, depleted to just five teams in 11-man football that includes perennial power Climax-Scotts.

Another area squad joins the 8-man ranks, as Bellevue joins the Southern Michigan 8-Man Conference with St. Philip and Tekonsha. North Adams-Jerome (also their first year) and Camden-Frontier (played as an independent last year) are now in the conference, filling out to eight teams.

Two other area teams have a slight change this season, as Galesburg-Augusta and Delton will be shifting divisions in the Southwest Athletic Conference. The Galesburg-Augusta Rams join the SAC Lakeshore Division after playing in the Valley Division the last two years. The Delton Panthers move to the Valley with the dissolved Central Division. The SAC is down to 12 teams after six teams fled to the new Southwest 10 Conference. Three of the four other teams are former St. Joseph Valley Conference teams that left the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference after three years.

Here's a look at tonight's contest at Lakeview, the first of two games this week!